Global Surge Team Roster: Emergency Safeguarding Coordinator

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 30 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure.

The IRC’s Global Surge Team (GST) is a roster of esteemed and highly qualified humanitarian professionals who deploy on short notice to non-emergency and emergency contexts to support the IRC’s mission. Members of the GST provide specialist support where talent is most needed for short-term deployments of up to three months. The GST is a flexible employment opportunity for staff, requiring members to be available for deployments only 50% of the year (with opportunities for additional deployments if incumbent is interested).

Members of the GST who specialize in emergencies are deployed to support either existing country programs in their emergency response, or to initiate a new program in a crisis zone. The overall responsibility of the team is to design, develop, and manage the IRC’s on-site humanitarian response, allowing us to meet the immediate needs of the affected population rapidly and effectively.

Job Overview:

The IRC is seeking to build a culture of prevention of safeguarding violations in our workplace and in our programs – as well as a safe environment for reporting. We are determined to protect our clients and staff from safeguarding violations through prevention and, where misconduct is alleged, to address it. The Emergency Safeguarding Coordinator, Global Surge is responsible for fostering dynamic staff learning and dialogue on safeguarding, supporting IRC teams to operationalize minimum safeguarding standards in programming and operations, and collaborating with IRC partners in line with their own safeguarding strategies and approaches. This work with partners may include supporting their prevention efforts, reporting systems, and ensuring appropriate response for survivors when abuses do occur.

The Emergency Safeguarding Coordinator, Global Surge will be working under the direct supervision of the Director of Strategic Initiatives in EHAU in close collaboration with IRC country and regional leadership, and with IRC technical advisors and program coordinators.

Major Responsibilities:

Staff learning and competencies

• Orient all newly hired staff, enumerators, incentive workers, etc., to IRC polices, reporting pathways, and basic survivor referral and support options

• Work with HR to ensure coordinated, well-tracked system to track orientation of newly hired staff, enumerators, incentive workers, etc., to IRC polices, reporting pathways, and basic survivor referral and support options

• Work with HR to ensure that basic information on IRC safeguarding policies and expected behaviors is part of all IRC job postings

• Support Country Director and Senior Management Team to build safeguarding messaging and micro-learning into team meetings and communications to promote continuous learning

Partnerships

• Integrate safeguarding into partnership agreements and conversations; make plans as needed to support partners to reinforce their own safeguarding policies and practices

• Deliver direct support to partners to reinforce their own safeguarding policies and practices

• Promote two-way learning and dialogue on safeguarding, and shared learning across the IRC network of partners

Survivor support, reporting and response protocols

• Integrate rapid service mapping and community-based reporting questions into needs assessment, in partnership with IRC protection colleagues

• Work with protection and health coordinators to establish referral and response pathways for survivors of violence, exploitation, and abuse, and to build awareness of these pathways into community outreach and information

• Work with program coordinators and MEAL to ensure that client feedback mechanisms and registers include PSEA/safeguarding reporting channels and protocols

Learning and coordination

• Meet with other agency safeguarding focal points to understand existing systems and inter-agency processes (e.g., PSEA network), and to ensure that IRC reporting channels are integrated into inter-agency efforts

• Foster ongoing learning, honest dialogue and reflection to strengthen safeguarding and to promote IRC values and adherence to IRC policies

Job Requirements:

• At least 4 years of relevant program and/or safeguarding experience with an international organization in emergency settings

• Experience with client protection from abuse and exploitation, sexual violence in development and humanitarian contexts in conflict/refugee settings, and knowledge of international protection frameworks and mechanisms on safeguarding

• Experience working with GBV/ Child Protection related programs would be a bonus

• Must be capable of applying skills and knowledge in a range of capacities, including implementation, advisory functions, training and the transfer of technical knowledge and management skills to others under stressful working conditions

• Experience facilitating ongoing learning and orientation with diverse teams

• Excellent communicator with technical writing ability in at least two languages – English, French, Arabic, Spanish – is required

• Proven track record in working with teams, excellent interpersonal skills, positive and professional attitude, ability to lead and work well in a team setting and with multiple partners

Standards of Professional Conduct: The IRC and IRC workers adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

Gender Equality: IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances.

IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.